Rockingham Dragway owner Steve Earwood was among those inducted this year into the East Coast
Drag Racing Hall of Fame presented by Drag Times Magazine and the Vance County Tourism
Department.

Earwood, whose racetrack is the only one that hosts multiple events in the IHRA Hooters Drag
Racing Series, is widely credited with putting drag racing on the map in the 1970s when he
served for 10 years as the Public Relations Director of the rival NHRA.

He left the NHRA in 1986 to become the PR Director at the new Texas Motorplex in Ennis,
Texas, which was the first of the new generation of "super tracks." He left the Motorplex to
become General Manager of Atlanta Dragway, where he oversaw a complete rebuild and expansion of
that facility which became "the new Atlanta Dragway."

In 1992, Earwood realized one of his dreams when he purchased Rockingham Dragway. He
subsequently transformed the track into one of the busiest on the East Coast, a direct contrast
to previous ownership which was content to run two major events a year.